Things shaping up nicely for another World Series speckled trout run, guide says
On Monday afternoon, Capt. Mike Gallo fished under a flock of birds near where Bayou Thomas empties into Lake Borgne for about four straight hours.
“The good news is a lot of shrimp are being pushed out of Lake Pontchartrain,” said Gallo, with Angling Adventures of Louisiana. “Trout are just tearing up these shrimp and pushing them up to the surface. Birds are almost sitting, but if they do leave you, they’re back in about 15 minutes.”
Gallo’s clients pulled in 49 trout, a redfish and a drum in less than four hours, but action was non-stop on both live shrimp and various Deadly Dudley’s lures.
“Color didn’t seem to make a difference,” Gallo said. “We fished with light colors and dark colors and they just seemed to work. They were in there pretty thick.”
Monday’s northwest wind piled up some dirty water in the southeast corner of Lake Pontchartrain, which pushed through Chef Pass into Lake Borgne, but the fish didn’t seem to mind.
“It wasn’t the cleanest water quality, but we literally got a bite on almost every cast,” he said.
Improving conditions bode well for fishing prospects in the area all week long, Gallo said.
“We’re supposed to have decreasing winds starting Tuesday afternoon, 5- to -10 mph for Wednesday, Thursday and into Friday,” he said. “I think it’s going to do nothing but improve the water clarity, and that’s going to improve the fishing quite a bit.”
Redfish remain plentiful in the Biloxi Marsh, and specks should continue to push into Lake Pontchartrain, especially as water temperatures drop from Sunday’s cool front.
“I think the specks will still be scattered but more aggressive in their feeding,” said Gallo, noting that many of the trout he cleaned Monday night had three to four shrimp in their stomachs. “I think if you could go out there and catch a dozen on Wednesday, by the weekend that should be 20, and in another week it should be 25 or 30.
“I think that will just continually increase as long as it’s fishable with moderate winds and clean water.”
Gallo said things seem to be setting up for another World Series trout run, where larger numbers of bigger specks push into Lake Pontchartrain around the time of the Major League Baseball playoffs.
“I think we’re heading in the right direction. I had a 3-pounder last week and a 2-pounder today,” he said. “So things are shaping up for us to get back to a normal type of fall fishing in Lake Pontchartrain.
“It might take two more weeks for that to occur, but that’s right on schedule.”
